SFSU Public Affairs Press Release

TIPSHEET: SFSU at the head of the class with new courses, programs
New school year begins Aug. 30 with an expected 27,600 students

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 23, 2000 - Expecting 27,600 enrolled students this year, San Francisco State University is preparing for the school's 101nd year of classes, beginning Aug. 30. There will be approximately 7,600 new students on campus, including 2,100 incoming freshmen. The university is offering several new programs and courses that address needs of students and current issues in society. Here are a few highlights:
New courses provide freshmen with what they need to succeed

A set of new First Year Experience (FYE) courses offered in each of the eight colleges at SFSU - as well as courses for undeclared, liberal studies (prospective teachers) and residence hall students - will help the more than 2,000 freshmen make a smooth transition to college life. Each course will focus on developing proper study skills, learning the necessary graduation requirements and other skills imperative to having a successful college career. Similar courses at other universities have proven to i
ncrease academic success and retention rates for freshmen.

Additionally, the FYE courses in the colleges of Creative Arts and Health & Human Services will meet Aug. 28, before the first day of classes, for a day of team-building games and activities. The day will give participating freshmen a head start on familiarizing themselves with the campus, a chance to meet each other and build trust among their peers.

Undeclared freshmen living in SFSU's residence halls also have the option of enrolling in a special FYE course entitled the F.A.S.Track (Freshman Accelerated Success Track) Program. In addition to the general FYE curriculum, F.A.S.Track will also address
residence-related topics such as conflict resolution between roommates and others, personal public safety and drug and alcohol abuse. F.A.S.Track students will all live on the same floor of their building and work together in study groups and various workshops in an effort to build a sense of comraderie and community.

All of the courses are three units and count toward graduation. For details, contact Karen Kingsbury, new student orientation coordinator, at (415) 338-1304 or kkingsby@sfsu.edu.
Residence hall freshmen to be welcomed to their new home

More than 150 SFSU freshmen - accompanied by their parents - signed up to be the first to move in to the university's residence halls Friday, Aug. 25, as part of a new Welcome Home program.

Welcome Home is designed to help first-time freshmen become acclimated to their new living situation, the surrounding neighborhood and to San Francisco. Events for the program will cover everything from a campus tour and "college survival skills" workshop to public safety presentations, a financial management workshop and tours of several San Francisco neighborhoods. There will also be several parents-only sessions on safety and security, financial aid and residential life.

Residence hall students not participating in Welcome Home move in Sunday, Aug. 27.
SFSU president to welcome students back to campus

President Robert Corrigan will personally welcome back students on the second day of classes, Aug. 31, to conclude next week's Welcome Back Celebration. Deans, directors and administrators will serve cake to students on the redesigned plaza area outside the Cesar Chavez Student Center, which will soon celebrate its 25th anniversary with the unveiling on a major renovation that added 26,000 square feet.

The day's festivities will also include live music performed by the SFSU jazz band and information tables set up by various campus services including the Health Center, Student Outreach Services, the Testing Center and the University Police.

Other activities planned earlier in the week include a speech by Corrigan for faculty Aug. 28, a student "Advising Day" on Aug. 29 and the information tables will also be set up Aug. 30.

The SFSU journalism department moves further into cyberspace with the end of the Golden Gater newspaper and creation of the Golden Gate Xpress, a merger of the Golden Gater newspaper, Xpress Online and Xpress Magazine. The move allows students to gain additional experience in the online environment, which is gaining wide application in the field of journalism. The Xpress Online will be constantly updated, the newspaper will be published on Thursdays and the magazine on the third Thursday of the month.

For details, contact journalism Professor John Burks at (415) 338-2094 or jburks@sfsu.edu.
New criminal justice course shakes down police ethics

A new course in SFSU's criminal justice program will focus on ethics in law enforcement at a time when police corruption in Los Angeles and brutality by prison guards has been in the news. The class, which is being taken by many police officers and other law enforcement officers, will examine questions surrounding ethics and policing, the courts and the prison industry.

This fall, non-science students who enroll in Oceanography 102 to fulfill a general education requirement will trade traditional textbook homework assignments for 10 "Virtual Voyages" of the San Francisco Bay. The one-of-a-kind Web-based teaching program, designed by SFSU geosciences department chair and Associate Professor Karen
Grove, uses real-time images of waves, tides, currents and more to teach basic concepts in oceanography. The voyages range from "The Origin and Evolution of Beach Waves" and "The Tides and Currents of San Francisco Bay" to "Hawaiian Volcanoes" and "The Ocean: Habitat for Life."

"My continuing quest is to help non-science students see connections between science and everyday life," says Grove, who designed the online homework assignments last fall to help inspire the 100-plus students who enroll in the lecture course each semester.